F1 Esports Series was first launched in 2017 and has gained immense popularity over the years. 20 of the best sim racing drivers in the world compete in a format similar to real-life Formula 1, to determine who is the best, and up until now, Mercedes has been the most successful team in the series.
Red Bull meanwhile has not won a single drivers title till now but has won two constructors titles. Marcel Kiefer, who is one of the most popular sim racers in the world was a part of the Red Bull Racing Esports team. He made a name for himself with the Milton-Keynes-based outfit but parted ways with them after the 2022 season.
Delighted to announce I‘ve joined @MercedesF1Esp for 2023 🔥
German Team 🤝 German Driver 🇩🇪
Let‘s do this 😈 https://t.co/mt0zAr4bkW
— Marcel Kiefer (@marcelkiefer_) April 13, 2023
Mercedes, however, jumped at the opportunity to sign the German driver who is ecstatic about joining the Silver Arrows. When this news was announced on social media earlier this week, fans lauded the move made by Mercedes in signing one of the best esports drivers from their real-life rivals, Red Bull.
Who will Marcel Kiefer team up with at Mercedes?
Jarno Opmeer is arguably the most popular sim racing driver in the world currently. He is a two-time world champion, having won his first world title with Alfa Rome in 2021 before guiding Mercedes to victory the following year.
In 2022, Opmeer struggled to live up to his previous years’ performance as he lost out on the title to McLaren Shadow’s Lucas Blakely. Mercedes and Opmeer are both yet to confirm the latter’s presence in this year’s esports championship series, but if the Dutchman does stay at Mercedes, they’ll form arguably one of the strongest teams on paper.
Kiefer and Opmeer together, would bolster Mercedes’ hopes of winning the constructors’ championship for the third time in history.
When sim racers defeated Sebastian Vettel in real life racing
Often people feel that sim racers aren’t particularly talented in real life but on several occasions, this myth has been busted. Over the last few years, the top two drivers of the F1 Esports series are invited to the annual Race of Champions event and what happened at last year’s installment, surprised everyone.
February: Makes it to the eROC final and beats Sebastian Vettel at #ROCSweden ✅
December: Becomes #F1 Esports World Champion ✅
It’s been quite the year for @LucasBlakeley01! 👏 pic.twitter.com/xgCWeteEjs
— #ROCSweden (@RaceOfChampions) December 17, 2022
In the 2022 Race of Champions in Sweden, F1 Esports world champion Blakely went up against four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel.
To everyone’s shock, Blakeley defeated Vettel which made the majority of the fanbase perceive sim racers differently!
